• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.69-74
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• 1994

Thyroplasty type III provides an effective mean of shortening the vocal fold. It is used primarily fer lowering vocal pitch. The indications for this surgery are the male patients with too high a vocal pitch of long duration which has proven resistant to voice therapy and a type of dysphonia characterized by high pitch and a breathy voice, in which the laryngeal findings include a very narrow glottal chink and a small amplitude of vibration, suggesting a stiff vocal cord. In this study, we have experienced two cases of high pitched voice, one is mutational falsetto and other is high pitched, breathy voice with stiff vocal fold. The results were satisfactorily successful with type III thyroplasty. So we report the cases of type III thyroplasty in patients of dysphonia with high pitched voice.

• Proceedings of the KSLP Conference
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• 2017.04a
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• pp.96-96
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• 2017

• Speech Sciences
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.73-83
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• 2004

Electromyographic studies of the cricopharyngeus muscle using hooked wire electrodes were performed in thyroidectomized patients. The shape of the cricoid cartilage and soft tissue thickness in the postcricoid area were evaluated during pitch elevation and pitch lowering using conventional neck lateral films. The cricopharyngeus muscle simultaneously activated in the initial task of speech and continuously activated. Its activity lessened in the interrogative stress contrast of sentence terminals and increased in the pitch lowered contrast of sentence terminal. On the radiologic findings the cricoid cartilage was tilted backward during high pitched phonation and tilted forward during low pitched phonation. The soft tissue thickness of postcricoid area was thicker at the low pitch than at high pitch. At low pitch the cricoid cartilage paralleled along the vertebral column. This result suggests that the bulging of cricopharyngeus muscle in contraction induce a thickened the postcricoid area thickened, and exert pressure anteriorly exerted on the cricoid cartilage. This contraction of the cricopharyngeus muscle may result in shortening the vocal fold and lowering pitch.